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Thursday, April 14, 2016

Nerdy Adventures in Making #MakerEd #EdChat

I was going to start this post about how this is roughly the one year anniversary that I really dove into making. The thing is, that is true and false. It is one year since I got the Makerspace at my school finally up and running. Since that time, I've worked on bringing new tools and ideas to the space and have worked hard to encourage students at my school and teachers around the country to embrace the Making. So, in that instance, it is true that this is an anniversary. However, it is not totally true.

If I am honest, I have been making my entire life. I have always been a person that has loved to tinker and put things together. I have always come up with elaborate schemes to create new inventions since I was little. I have created gigantic wastelands for my Transformers to challenge Thundercats for supremacy of the bedroom. I have written short stories, I have daydreamed of different ways to engage my students with new and (hopefully) exciting lesson plans. These are things I have always done and that creative spirit is finally a more comfortable place to settle.

I have had many different adventures over the past year with Making in Education, but I have a lifetime of experiences with Making in non-traditional settings. Actually, maybe Making at home is actually the traditional way to Make and Making in schools is truly non-traditional. That could be the issue. We need to make Making a normal part of the learning process. It should not be relegated to the basements of garages of homes alone. It needs to be brought into the light of the classroom where student from all backgrounds can explore the different ways their creative spirit can be used to Make amazing things.

For teachers, it is important that we embrace an alternative way for students to express understanding of concepts and for students to explore complex ideas through explorations with Making. By becoming more open to Making and the Maker community, I have been able to view Project Based Learning with my students in a very different light and I feel like it has made me a better teacher for it. I think there is something important for all educators to learn from this and I love that I have a platform to share my Adventures in Making.

I've started work on a Making book. This book is going to be for all of the teachers out there that think they do not understand Making, have no idea where to start, or just think that Making does not apply to their curriculum. This book is going to be filled with plenty of nerdy goodness. I'm excited to start my second book and share my Nerdy approach to Making with all of you. If you have specific topics you think I have to share, please leave ideas in the comments, send me a tweet, or drop me an email (onenerdyteacher@gmail.com).

I can't wait to see what the future holds for me when it comes to Making, but I know that I will have a hand in creating it.